"You can call Evelyn, or Miss Saint Claude. But do not get my surna wrong. That would be disrespectful to history."
Leo paused for a mont, then nodded.
"My apologies, Miss Saint Claude."
Evelyn stared at him for a mont, as if to confirm her words had sunk in.
Then, she turned her gaze back to the map.
"As for Murphy’s upcoming campaign, that’s not sothing you and I need to worry about."
Evelyn’s tone was nonchalant.
"Right now, Murphy is the darling of the Democratic Party’s campaign committee. To win Pennsylvania, they’ll throw checks at him like they’re scrap paper."
"In the next few months, his campaign account will take in more money than he’s earned in the last ten years combined in the House of Representatives."
Evelyn’s finger lifted from Philadelphia on the map, moved west across the Appalachian Mountains, and settled on the rust-colored region with Pittsburgh at its center.
"But you’re different, Leo."
"You need to consolidate the Rust Belt."
"Your Industrial Revival Alliance is an ambitious plan, but it’s also an extrely fragile one."
"Those mayors following you, those old-tirs in Erie and Scranton... they may be on your side now, but it’s only for the money and the contracts. The mont the supply chain wavers, or the pressure from Harrisburg increases, they’ll turn on you."
"You need a more binding commitnt."
Evelyn raised her head, her gaze burning as she looked at Leo.
"Beyond the settlent system we already discussed, my family can offer sothing more."
"I will publicly declare that the Saint Claude Family endorses your system and supports your alliance."
"You know full well what that ans."
Evelyn took a step closer, her cool fragrance invading Leo’s every breath.
What Evelyn Saint Cloud was offering was to lend Leo her family’s intangible assets, accumulated over two centuries: its reputation, its network, its access.
Leo looked at the woman before him.
"It’s a very good deal."
Leo admitted candidly.
"But why ?"
"The Saint Claude Family has been a force in Pennsylvania for two hundred years. Politicians seeking your investnt have practically beaten a path to your door. Lawmakers from Philadelphia, the governor in Harrisburg, even Senators from Washington—is there any of them who isn’t utterly deferential to you?"
"There are plenty of people in this ga who are smarter, more ruthless, and better connected than I am."
Leo held his hands out, palms up.
"I’m just the Mayor of Pittsburgh, a newcor who hasn’t even found his footing in Washington. Isn’t betting such a huge stack on far too risky?"
Evelyn turned around and walked to the study’s floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside the window lay the manicured landscape of the estate—a symbol of the old order.
"Because the world is changing, Leo."
Evelyn’s voice drifted over to him.
"No one can sit on the throne forever, and no family can survive indefinitely by resting on its laurels."
She turned her head and looked at Leo.
"For the past century, we grew accustod to dealing with old-fashioned gentlen in tailcoats, spouting Latin. We were used to dividing the spoils according to a fixed set of rules."
"But now, those rules are collapsing."
"Populism is on the rise, the anger of the masses is simring, and new-money tech titans are challenging the authority of old money. The old guard in Washington can no longer control the situation. Just look at Congress, look at the radical bills being passed."
Evelyn’s eyes sharpened.
"We need fresh blood. We need people who know how to fight in the mud, how to manipulate anger, and how to build a new order from the chaos of this new age."
"We’ve considered many people. Elites from top universities, heirs grood by their families. They’re brilliant, they’re obedient... but they’re too clean."
"They don’t have the instinct to survive in desperate straits, nor the resolve to sell their souls to the Demon."
Evelyn walked back to the desk, looking directly at Leo.
"But you... you’re different."
"You clawed your way up from the bottom. You dared to pull a knife on Morganfield. You dared to bet the entire city governnt. You have a kind of savage vitality in you, sothing that can never be nurtured in an Ivory Tower."
"You have value as an investnt, Leo. Trendous value."
"You’re like a unicorn that hasn’t fully matured yet. The bet is risky now, but if it pays off, the returns will be a hundredfold, a thousandfold."
"Don’t underestimate yourself. I’m betting on you."
As Leo listened, a complex mix of emotions churned within him.
’Being used, being treated as a tool... it sounded cruel.’
’But that was precisely what made it safest.’
’It ant he held an irreplaceable position on her chessboard.’
"Good."
Leo nodded, accepting her reasoning.
"Then what’s the price?" Leo asked directly.
"What do you want?"
"Shares of the port? More land developnt rights?"
Evelyn turned her head.
She looked at Leo.
"I’m not interested in such petty business, Leo."
Evelyn walked up to Leo.
She reached out and rested her hand gently on Leo’s shoulder.
"The price I demand is simple."
"From now on, you will co to Philadelphia to see once every two weeks."
Leo frowned. "See you? For what?"
"To report."
A desire for control glinted in Evelyn’s eyes.
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